


The (Stupidest) Things Erik Does For Love

by Puffinpastry



Series: A Sabercub or Two [3]
Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Domestic Fluff, Dragon Quest XI Act II Spoilers, Erik can’t say no to these idiots, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mardi garb, serevenik
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29594853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puffinpastry/pseuds/Puffinpastry
Summary: A collection of Drabbles and snips that take place in my CatLady AU but don’t fit into the story.It’s not necessary to read the other two parts to understand these!
Relationships: Camus | Erik/Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Camus | Erik/Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI)/ Sena | Serena, Camus | Erik/Sena | Serena, Hero | Luminary/Seña | Serena
Series: A Sabercub or Two [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845100
Comments: 16
Kudos: 7





	1. Puppy eyes and their less than practical uses

**Author's Note:**

> I do plan on coming back to this AU eventually. It might just be a while!  
> Also there’s just not enough content of this ship and I’m too impatient to get to the part of this AU where they actually happen.

Erik was lying to himself.

“You aren’t getting me in that fuckin’ outfit.” But even as he spoke, Erik could  _ feel  _ his resolve wavering. 

But he wouldn’t do it.

Over his dead body, he’d wear  _ that.  _

Who did they take him for? Sylvando?

_ Please. _

“Please, Erik?” Serena begged, puppy eyes fixed on him as she tilted her head ever so slightly to the left, bumping into El’s, who, while  _ silently,  _ wasn’t begging any less.

Fake tears  _ -the damned actor!-  _ making his eyes shine as he clasped his hands together as if in prayer and holding them up in front of his face. 

_ Please, Erik?  _ He said without even moving his hands.

No.

Absolutely fucking not.

Erik didn’t do  _ fancy.  _ If… if that  _ thing  _ could even be considered  _ fancy. _

No…

‘Tacky’ was probably a much more accurate word, but what the hell did Erik know?

Like he just said,  _ he didn’t do fancy. _

They were lucky he even kept his shirts buttoned up whenever he got dragged along to the high-society nonsense both El and Serena had to attend, for Dundrasil and Arboria, respectively. 

As much as he’d  _ like  _ to make a scene in the castle and in the churches by showing up in his best and rattiest, dirt smudged on his pants, sauntering around like he owned the place as if to say,  _ yeah, they chose me, fuckin’ live with it!  _ He was too nice.

Too nice… But to an extent.

“No.” Erik said for what had to have been the fifth time, hoping that this time he was putting his foot down.

He didn’t do fancy.

No tiara or circlets or whatever they were called. No fancy robes and coats.

He didn’t do… whatever  _ this  _ was, that El had been parading around in, that he had gotten Serena started with…

That Sylv had shown up with an extra for, intent on shoving Erik into it as well.

He didn’t do feathers and skirts and tight tights.

And yet, he was ignored.

“Oh, live a little!” Sylvando said from just on the other side of the door, shut to give him some bastardized sense of privacy while he (did not!) change into the outfit he was given. “Can you really say no to those sweet faces?”

_ The absolute bastard.  _ “I’m trying to!” Erik called back, but no help came. 

Again, he felt just the smallest edge of his resolve dulled down.

He wasn’t going to say yes.

He absolutely  _ was not going to say yes. _

“You won’t even do it for me?” Serena asked, and Erik tilted his head to the ceiling. 

They were just passing through Puerto Valor. It was just one step on their trip. Serena was just going back to Arboria for a few weeks, and El had some diplomatic bullshit Erik didn’t understand in Sniflheim.

He was just tagging along.

He could’ve stayed home.

_ He could’ve stayed in the castle and bugged the hell out of Hendrik until one of them got home to scold him. _

But instead…

Here he was, fighting off a dress.

And why the hell did Serena have to ask like  _ that? _

“I’m not doing it for anyone.” Erik answered, hoping to the Almighty that it would be enough-

El’s shoulders slumped, and he all but stuck out his lower lip to pout at Erik.

He was already dressed in his own, purple and white with gold trimming.

Serena in her own. A light mint green and white, and the same gold trim.

That’s what it took for him to notice.

The folded fabric that sat on the bed behind him-

Ice blue. White. Gold trimming.

All the soldiers wore red, green, and black.

So that’s how it was.

This wasn’t some  _ spare  _ uniform. Sylvando or El had to have made it specifically for him.

And if there was  _ one  _ thing in the whole of Erdrea Erik just couldn’t really find it in himself to say no to…

It was probably that.

He didn’t do fancy.

He didn’t do castles or royal events or special ceremonies.

Until it came to one of them. 

Until one of them showed up with something he needed for whatever it was he’d been invited to, handmade. Just for him.

Then suddenly he was perfectly fine or whatever he wasn’t before.

Be it scratchy coats and tight collars or learning the special words he would have to recite again and again for hours until he got the pronunciation  _ just  _ right.

Living in the castle, letting El get not one, not two, but  _ three  _ entire sabercubs… Spending a week in Arboria to support Serena while their husband was busy… 

“Fine.” Erik relented, and turned on his heel to the bed. “I’ll wear it for  _ one  _ hour. That’s all I’ll give.” 

There was very,  _ very  _ little he wasn’t actually willing to do for either of his partners. 

“But you two need to leave!” Erik made one last request, and he waited for the door to shut before he lifted the garment up. 

Frills.

Frills and embroidery and feathers and flowers.

Erik gave one sigh, letting out air until his lungs were empty.

The stupid fucking things he did for love.

~~~ 

One day. Just  _ one day.  _ He’d wear it once, leave it behind, and  _ never, ever  _ have to see or think about it again.

This was for El. For Serena.

He could suffer a  _ little  _ fancy for them both. He had before.

So… it was  _ that bad. _

He’d still complain about it.

They couldn’t  _ stop  _ him from complaining about it.

But that would have to be a fair enough trade-off.

Right?

That would be fair.

Except-

“Shut up.” Erik growled at the two self-satisfied looks that were  _ far  _ too cheery to be anything that didn’t hold schemes and plots to get him right back into the outfit packed away in his bag.

Or just drunk enough to start dancing again.

Breaking each and every one of his own little promises to himself.

“Love you too!” Serena piped up -

And Erik would be an asshole if he stayed mad at  _ that.  _ He muttered back in kind, and they both brightened.

And hell. If that didn’t make the dress -and the legal and bureaucratic nightmare marrying them both was- completely worth it… 

Maybe if they were lucky he’d put it on again instead of leaving it out somewhere the cats would end up shredding it.

Maybe.


	2. That Sounds Like A ‘You’ Problem

It would be fine, Erik had said. 

The bed was enormous. They’d figure it out.

And he had been right.

They’d figured it out.

Sleeping arrangements hadn’t ever been any real issue when it had been six of them on the road. And then they’d had to deal with taking shifts watching the perimeter of camp. They hadn’t had anything akin to basic comfort.

So why the hell would it be an issue with an entire bed? With only three of them? 

But alas.

They found a way.

Except… What they’d worried about was one of them being left out. One of them being cold, one of them uncomfortable.

_ Not  _ one of them getting completely smushed under the weight of the others.

“Please tell me one of you is awake.” Erik wheezed, blowing hair out of his mouth.

And Serena answered. Even if it was somewhat bleary. “You okay?” She asked, but she didn’t move. She didn’t roll off of his chest, take her hand from where it was under his neck, or her arm from where it was over El, who was currently dead-asleep, and letting every last ounce of his weight crush Erik.

That, he was used to.

He wasn’t quite used to Serena’s weight coming with it.

He was just one Erik.

He could only take so much.

“No.” Erik said with what little air he could get. “You’re both crushing me.”

Serena didn’t seem so concerned. “You don’t want to wake him up, do you?” She asked, “He had such a long day… You know how it is.”

He did know.

But he also knew he needed air.

“Can you  _ push  _ him?” Erik asked, understanding why he needed to sleep but just a  _ tiny  _ bit desperate.

Serena sighed, and sat up.

Instantly, Erik found his airway just a little clearer. 

But for a moment Serena didn't lay back down, and he was afraid he’d sounded angry. He hadn’t meant to drive her away! 

“Serena-” he started, but before he could even figure out what he would say to convince her not to move away, she was laying right back down.

“Is this any better?” She asked, curled against his side and her head pillowed on his shoulder rather than his chest.

His only free arm was trapped now, but he could breathe. “Yeah.” Erik answered, using said trapped arm to hold her in place. She’d left the blanket when she’d moved.

But she probably wouldn’t be cold.

Not up against Erik.

Or in their room at all, anyway. The hearth was lit, and soon enough at least  _ one  _ of the cats would find their way to the bed.

Or just as long as El was in it. Goddess knew he produced more heat than could be any kind of normal.

Maybe that was a luminary thing.

Not like it really mattered, though.

“That’s good.” Serena murmured, already sounding half-asleep. “Goodnight, Erik.”

“Night.” Erik said right back, the surreality of having her with them still just a little fresh.

That sounded bad. 

But he really didn’t mean it like that. It was new, but it wasn’t unwelcome.

He was sure it would’ve happened sooner had he and El not been so preoccupied with each other, had El not been holding the world’s future in his hands.

Had Veronica not… 

But what's done was done, and she had found her way to them both in time. 

And she made everything so much better.

El was happier, and so was he.

She was always one step ahead of the demands the world seemed to have of them, and most importantly-

“Love you.” Serena said, and that was it.

She wasn’t just there to make things better, and she wasn’t just there for El.

Erik lay awake, able to breathe freely but preoccupied with his own thoughts. 

The castle -  _ his home  _ \- Mia’s safety, her career.

El, and then Serena...

It was all more than he could’ve known to expect.

More than he could’ve ever dared to  _ hope  _ to have.

And yet-

The proof of how far he’d come was snoring, and keeping him just this side of too warm to sleep.

He didn’t have the use of either of his arms to wipe his face.

So he just wasn’t gonna let himself cry.

If morning came and there was any evidence to the contrary…

Well.

He had already been squished once.

He could handle it again.


End file.
